TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- What was intended to be a joyful anniversary getaway this summer, quickly took a dramatic turn for Maj. Jason Cole and his family.
U.S. Air Force Maj. Jason Cole, the Continental U.S. NORAD Region – First Air Force (Air Forces Northern & Air Forces Space) A3 chief of Air Defense Operations and his wife Heather, were vacationing on June 12, 2024, to celebrate the couple’s 15th anniversary in Magan’s Bay St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, with their two children while on a cruise.
Their plan was to go to the exact location of their wedding (he saved the GPS coordinates), renew their vows in the presence of their kids, enjoy some time at the beach, and board the Wonder of the Seas cruise ship and sail to the next port of St. Maarten.
As the Coles were enjoying a beautiful day at the beach beforehand, they heard yelling and screaming in the water regarding a person snorkeling off the beach.
Cole initially thought there was a shark in the water because several of several sightings back home in Florida.
“I did a quick count of the kids, and when I saw everyone was good, I saw people pointing to a man holding his wife who was in the water,” Cole said.
Cole said that he had spotted the couple earlier and his wife had a premonition. He responded by bringing her back to shore and administering CPR.
“She was blue in the face and unresponsive by the time I got to her,” Cole said. A lifeguard when he was a teenager in his hometown of Berea, Ohio, he had trained to respond to drowning victims. Between his instruction as a lifeguard and the annual CPR training that the Air Force provides, he said that muscle memory took over.
After a couple minutes of Cole administering CPR, lifeguards and paramedics arrived to assist. They loaded her on a stretcher and began checking vital signs. She was breathing, but still was unresponsive.
He said that the situation was particularly difficult, because neither the victim nor her husband could speak English.
Once the lady was stable, they took her to a hospital on the island for additional tests.
The incident was so draining, the Coles skipped the renewing of their vows and went back to the ship.
“The selfless act demonstrated by Maj Cole is an example of the kind, caring, humble and compassionate leader he is as professional while at work and on (leave),” Lt. Col. Charles “J.R.” Kemp, the CONR-1AF (AFNORTH & AFSPACE) A3 division chief said.
“Throughout my many years of knowing Maj Cole, his actions have always spoken louder than his words and it’s unsurprising that he performed a heroic act and doesn’t want any attention for doing so,” Kemp concluded.
“You don’t worry about being a hero in that moment,” Cole said. “You just want to do the right thing at the right place at the right time and help out.”
“You don’t think, you just do.”